Artificial fishing-bait.



No. 784,398. PATENTED MAR. 7, 1905. W. HECKELER.

ARTIFICIAL FISHING BAIT.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 11. 1904.

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UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIICE.

VILLIAM HECKELER, OF MEADVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

ARTIFICIAL FISHING-BAIT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 784,398, dated March'7, 1905.

Application filed June 11, 1904. Serial No. 212,172.

To all 1072 0722, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, \VILLIAM HEOKELER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Headville, in the county of Crawford and State ofPennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in ArtificialFishing-Baits, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in fishing implements of the kinddenominated artificial bait, and the object is to simplify and improvethe existing art.

My invention embodies a piece of suitable sheet metal shaped into twosections or plates formed to the general outlines of a fish and thenfolded to make an elliptically-shapcd body and the free ends cemented orotherwise secured together, the bodies of the plates being formed at thefront portions with outwardly-turned fins or wings and at the rearportions with inwardly-turned fins or wings, the fins in each instanceextending beyond the contour-lines of the plates, and a rod or bar onwhich the bait is revolubly mounted, all as will be fully specified anddistinctly claimed.

I have fully and clearly illustrated my improvements in the annexeddrawings, to be taken as a part of this specification.

Reference being had to the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation inperspective of the complete device, showing the hooks connected theretoand means for fastening the device to a line. Fig. 2 is a plan view ofthe complete device.

Referring to the drawings, A designates the body of the bait, which isformed from a single sheet-metal blank stamped or otherwise shaped toproduce a pair of connected sections or plates having the generalcontour of a fish, as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings. Thesheetmetal blank after being properly formed is folded at a pointbetween the connected sections, and the latter are bent relatively andconjointly to present a body of substantially-elliptical shape inlongitudinal section, as seen in Fig. 2 of the drawings. A pair ofoppositely-disposed front fins or wings 1 2 are provided, respectively,on the sections, and these fins are curved outwardly and inclined towardthe tail of the bait from the upper edge of the fin, as indicated in thedrawings. This construction and formation insures the continuousrevolution of the bait when drawn forward through the water. The outerlines of the fins 1 2 are continued into the nose of the bait, as shown,and in the base of the fins are made apertures 3, which are intended tobe imitations of the eyes of a fish. In coursing through the water theseeyes give the bait the appearance of having eyes positioned in it.Formed on the plates or sections at the rear portion are two other finsextending in opposite directions from the edges of the sections and arecurved inward, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, and are inclined incross-section toward the tail of the bait, as seen. These rear fins giveadditional velocity to the revolutions of the fish as it is drawnthrough the water and tend to balance it in its course. The inner edgesof the curved-in fins at 5 extend, respectively, within the path of theouter edge of the opposite plate, so that should a strong-mouthed fishspring the sides inward the ends of the fins will engage the plates andprevent the sides from completel y collapsing. However, should the sidesbecome bent or dented they can be easily repaired by pressure applied totheir inner faces at the proper place. The bait thus made up andcompleted is revolubly mounted on a rod 6, extending centrally throughthe bait, as shown in the drawings, the rod being formed with suitableloops at each end, as T S, to the first of which is hung the hook 9 andto the latter is connected a swivel 10 to connect the bait to a line.

The use of the bait is apparent to all genial fishermen. It is simplypulled or trolled through the water, and the resistance of the waterrapidly revolves the bait and makes it assume the appearance of a fish.The appearance of the bait when active in the water is very alluring toall kinds of fish which are sought for by this kind of bait.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. An artificial fishing-bait formed from a single blank shaped toproduce a pair of connected sections each having the general contour ofa fish, said blank being folded at a point between the sections, and thelatter bent relatively to conjointly present a body of substantiallyelliptical form in longitudinal section, a pair of oppositely-extendingfront fins provided respectively on the sections, said fins having theirouter longitudinal edges inclined forwardly and inwardly and their rearends curved outwardly, a pair of oppositely-extending rear fins providedrespectively on the sections and having their outer longitudinal edgesinclined forwardly and inwardly, a rod extending longitudinally throughthe body and on which the latter is rotatably mounted, and a hookoperatively connected with the bait.

2. An artificial fishing-bait formed of a single blank shaped to producea pair of connected sections each having the general contour of a fish,said blank being folded at a point between the sections, and the latterbent relatively to conjointly present a body of substantially ellipticalform in longitudinal section, and the said body-sections having theirinitially free ends united, a pair of front fins provided respectivelyon the sections and having their rear ends curved outwardly, a pair ofrear fins provided respectively on the sections each having their rearends curved inwardly and disposed each in the path of the oppositesection, a rod extending longitudinally through the body and on whichthe latter is rotatably mounted, and a hook operatively connected Withthe bait.

3. An artificial fishing-bait composed of a single blank shaped toproduce a pair of connected sections each having the general contour ofa fish, said blank being folded at a point between the sections and thelatter bent relatively to conjointly present a body of substantiallyelliptical form in longitudinal section, a pair of front fins providedrespectively on the sections and having their rear ends curvedoutwardly, a pair of rearfins provided respectively on the sections andhaving their rear ends curved inwardly, a rod extending longitudinallythrough the body and on which the latter is rotatably mounted, and ahook operatively connected with and carried by the bait.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM HECKELER.

Witnesses:

JOSEPH H. DICKSON, RICHARD D. BACON.

